Fails the Bechdel test
American Shaolin
1992. Directed by Lucas Lowe, written by Keith W. Strandberg.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
An American martial arts film directed by Lucas Lowe. The story follows a young American martial artist named Jason Stillwell, who travels to China after a humiliating defeat in a kickboxing match. His goal is to learn Shaolin Kung Fu to improve his skills and restore his honor. Upon arriving in China, Jason faces cultural differences and the strict discipline of the Shaolin monastery. He struggles to earn the respect of the monks and prove his dedication. Throughout his training, Jason learns fighting techniques and important philosophical lessons about humility and inner strength. The film explores Jason's journey of personal growth and his efforts to master Shaolin Kung Fu while navigating various challenges and rivalries within the monastery.
- Released
- 23 May 1992
- Genres
- Action
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.9 / 10
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Drew 253 lines, man
- San De 67 lines, man
- Gao 31 lines, man
- Kwan 31 lines, man
- Ashema 26 lines
- Li 24 lines
- Trevor 24 lines, man
- Monk 20 lines, man
- Wu 9 lines
- Arhat 7 lines, man
Full cast, 10 people
- Reese Madigan as Drew Carson
- Trent Bushey as Trevor Gottitall
- Daniel Dae Kim as Gao
- Billy Chang as Li
- Cliff Lenderman as D.S.
- Henry O as San De
- Kim Chan as Master Kwan
- Alice Zhang Hung as Ashena
- Jean Louisa Kelly as Maria
- Mark Swetland as 'Bruce Lee'
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 17% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 150
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 31 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 28 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 30 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 15 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 30 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 15 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 8 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 11 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 2 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 8 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 22 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 13 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 8 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 14 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 23 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 20 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 11 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 4 |
| 89 to 92 | 2 | 12 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 5 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 19 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 2 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 1 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 1 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 13 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 3 |
| 125 to 128 | 2 | 8 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 7 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 19 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 1 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 10 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 11 |
| 149 to 150 | 0 | 33 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 1 are women's.
5 lines from women, 453 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
1 women and 3 men in the cast. 0 women and 3 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 550.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 378 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 1% of the words (24), men 99% (4,587).
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
32
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 4 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 0% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Lo Yuen-Ming (man)
- Written by
- Keith W. Strandberg (man)
- Edited by
- Marco Mak Chi-Sin (man), Poon Hung (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
-
Production
0 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Writing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 19 on average. Men: 53 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jean Louisa Kelly 19
Men
Daniel Dae Kim 23, Henry O 64, Kim Chan 73
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 150 scenes and 550 lines of dialogue. How the test works
